Donating Blood, and how it has helped me
"It's in you to give"
I saw on social media recently that a friend had donated blood for the fiftieth time. This is an amazingly selfless accomplishment and very much an inspiration. In Canada, donations are managed by Canadian Blood Services at Blood.ca and they use the smart tagline of “It’s in you to give”. It truly is, and please use my friend’s example as your inspiration to donate. You can book an appointment online and the Blood.ca website gives you an overview of the experience so you can get comfortable ahead of time.
You may have heard that some blood types are more valuable than others. That’s because some blood types are rare on their own, or could be a “universal donor” with the blood type of Group O. The Red Cross has a great explanation for how this works. On top of this, the antigens on the surface of your red blood cells can be rare as well. There are currently 600 known antigen combinations and your specific donation could be just what someone needs at a critical time. By donating you can learn your blood type and if it’s a rare blood type that’s in great need.
I’ve only donated blood once. Given my health issues it’s not a good idea to do this. I was fortunate to donate blood to a perfect match - myself. This technique was used before my open-heart surgery and I still pat myself on the back for doing this.
On the other hand, I have received donated blood and my friend’s post brought back a memory of this that I shared with my family today. When I was 12 years old I needed back surgery due to my scoliosis. With the disease I have, Marfan Syndrome, bones can grow extra long and the connective tissue holding them together can get weak. On top of that, bones can be less dense, and a person’s skeleton can be different than other people.
Scoliosis means that your spine is curved. This can by side to side, front to back, or even both. This was discovered when I was in first grade, and I was required to wear a back brace until my surgery. Mine was based on the Milwaukee brace and it was very uncomfortable. I had to wear it (and multiple revisions of the type) all day for about five years, until my declining health forced me to have corrective surgery. I’ve included a similar, but less restrictive type, in the photo below. My spine and bones issues are a story for later.
When I was in surgery my mother waited in the hospital for me and any news. This was a former WW2 military hospital that was converted to a children’s hospital, and it only had one elevator. My mom nervously went from pacing around on my ward waiting for news, to the cafeteria, and back. The surgery lasted over five hours and was complex. On one of those trips in the elevator an IV tree was rolled in with many bags of blood hanging at the ready. My mom, curious as usual, leaned over and looked at the tags on the bags. They all had my name on them.
My normally reserved mom let out a gasp and told the technician that all those bags had her son’s name on them. The kind gentlemen from the blood bank tried to reassure her by telling her not to worry, because maybe I wouldn’t need all the bags. That didn’t help and this only added to the torture of waiting to see if I was okay.
Without blood that day I could not have survived that surgery. I thank those that donated it, the medical professionals that helped me, and of course my dear mother whose was my fierce advocate for all my medical issues growing up.
It’s in you to give. ♥️